Session XXXVI: Cause no Trouble

Before rejoining the rest of the party, Jacqualine and Tropam conducted an experiment on the utility of scrying, testing methods to detect and dispel it. Tropam cast the spell on Jacqualine, and using his (very metaphorical) third eye, he could see the orb hovering near her. Jacqualine could also see it, drawing from the power of the Amulet of Crowns. Jacqualine did manage to dispel it in the end, proving that with the right preparation, scrying could be effectively countered.   The two then joined Caerlin, who was in the process of cajoling his calves and putting on a show for deputy speaker Drenk, whom he eventually offended with his highfalutin attitude. The party saw this charade and left the tavern. As he lost the favour of his drinking partner, Caerlin took the only sensible course of action and cast a Charm spell on him. Somehow, he managed to extend its duration with metamagic to last sixteen hours. And somewhere, Caerlin knows that this was a freak incident. He spent the rest of the evening with his "friend," prattling on and on about his travels and boasting about his own excellence. Of course, Drenk found this very interesting.   The party spent the night in Forestview. The second Caerlin woke up, he was in a sudden rush to leave Hearthstead. This urge may have had something to do with the Charm spell soon coming to an end. Jacqualine saw Drenk's strangely friendly demeanour towards Caerlin and asked him about it. Apparently, the snake-man had merely charmed Drenk "with his personality" but she would, of course, not have believed any cause or excuse coming from his mouth. Jacqualine guessed that he had used magic on the deputy and cast dispel magic. Caerlin counterspelled. A debacle ensued. Baldur slept. Jacqualine again cast dispel magic. Caerlin counterspelled. Tropam decided to counterspell the counterspell. Seeing no other option, Caerlin began identifying potential witnesses around the tavern, but he was forced to stand down by the party, and Jacqualine used Suggestion to cause Drenk to drop the matter (at least for the coming eight hours). Thereafter the party left for Vindova.   On the road, a discussion ensued between Caerlin and Jacqualine on what you can and cannot do with mind magic. Caerlin became angry, cast a darkness spell, and ran away. It was only a few minutes later that the sorcerer-less party saw a figure clad in bright red robes approaching from the forest. Tropam immediately cast invisibility on the party members, and the Red Wizard effortlessly cast truesight upon seeing the four adventurers disappear in front of him. He stopped and started to question the party, talking about thieves and an amulet. As Tropam had made no effort to hide the gilded amulet, wearing it openly, it did not take long for Edwin to see it. He called Tropam a monkey and demanded that he turn it over. He refused. The party stalled for time, and Edwin hurled more and more accusations of inferior intellect towards the adventurers, before summoning golems, one at a time. He grew tired of Jacqualine's attitude and cast Finger of Death on her, but it was miraculously counterspelled. Edwin had enough and set down two Walls of Force, separating him and Tropam from the rest of the party; whilst reversing gravity outside the walls and paralysing the others mid-air. He then cast Feeblemind on Tropam, who succumbed to its effects. He took his ancestral amulet from the babbling harengon. He turned around and walked towards the forest, and dispelled all his spells as he prepared to return to his Plane. The party decided to push their luck further, and Caerlin (who had rushed towards the party after seeing the Red Wizard approach) tried to use Telekinesis to steal the amulet from the wizard's neck. Edwin reacted by applying equal amounts of force, causing the amulet to stay. Del'Gado rushed like a bolt of lightning towards the wizard (whose back was turned), intending to pocket the amulet without him noticing. As his arm reached towards him, immense force jerked it away and sent him straight to the ground. The Red Wizard turned around and expressed slight annoyance at these uneducated philistines, and summoned a meteor swarm as a farewell gift just before activating the Plane Shift scroll.   It was a stroke of divine luck that no-one perished in the ensuing firestorm. Del'Gado even managed to grab Tropam and run him to safety before the meteors made landfall. They made camp to recuperate, and quickly realised that Tropam was not of sound mind. Thus, Jacqualine prepared a powerful Heal spell to cure him of his imposed condition. The party, and particularly Del'Gado, entered into a heated argument with Tropam. They were mightily upset that he had not told them the full truth about the danger that the Red Wizard Edwin posed. Nevertheless, the journey continued.   Upon reaching the city, the party were halted by a squad of ten soldiers. They were wearing dark blue uniforms, and their left-side collars had a stylised anchor on it. All were wearing black armbands with two white letters, MP, on them. It was an inspection. All weapons the party were carrying were declared (and Del'Gado were hauling quite a few). They were informed that weapons carried on one's person were required to, at all times, be worn openly. And that unsanctioned use of magic was illegal. Once inside Vindova, the party went for the Roaring Hearth, as per deputy Drenk's recommendation.   Del'Gado and Caerlin ordered ten shots each before going to their rooms. Jacqualine communed with her deity during the evening, confirming that no hostile wizard on this Plane was out for Tropam's blood and that Del'Gado's death-mark by the Red Mantis Assassins was active. The chief bartender, Regenweald, wished to have a word with the newcomers, which they agreed to do once they had concluded the agenda of the day, which was to seek an audience at the city's military headquarters regarding Hazred's Estate.   It was quite early in the morning when they travelled to the repurposed steward's mansion. The sentries were initially dismissive, but after mentioning the estate and their names they verified this information with their communication devices. After around fifteen minutes they were allowed entry and shown to the office of commander Hedwig Exyris, Section Chief of Recondite Affairs.   The meeting is, as of this moment, still ongoing.